More than 100 Guatemalan children participate in Community Festival on Safe Migration

 
17 April, 2017

The cold of the morning of Monday, April 17, did not prevent youngsters, students, mothers with their daughters and sons, and other people from approaching the acoustic shell of Concepción Tutuapa’s central park in San Marcos Guatemala, to see what the invitation that was made through the loudspeakers was about. Minutes later they laughed at the occurrences of a clown and took pictures along with the messages that informed them on safe and regular migration.

 

Concepcion Tutuapa is one of the municipalities of the Department of San Marcos, bordering Mexico, that registers the largest migrant flows, mostly to Tapachula (Chiapas, Mexico) and in some cases to the United States. The main reason for this migration is the lack of local work and economic opportunities, confirmed the Mayor, Mr. Petronilo Chun.

This is why, for the second consecutive year, Concepción Tutuapa is one of the places where an InformArte en Movimiento community festival is held. The goal is that through art, recreational activities and a high participation of the community, messages of prevention of the risks associated with irregular migration and raising awareness of the human rights of migrants.

 "I like to attend these activities because they give the ducklings truthful and quality information and this Program has already helped many young people in these communities," said Federico Pérez, community leader.

 

The festival concluded with the “¿Cuál es el camino a casa?" documentary-screening (filmmaker: Rebecca Cammisa), which presents the experiences of migrant children who travel unaccompanied and demystifies some of the dreams and promises on which they undertake this dangerous trip.

Gandhi Barrios was one of the artists who contributed to give life to the festival. "I love these activities because migration is a latent issue in our communities and it is vital to raise-awareness about migrant rights," said the young singer-songwriter of the municipality of San Marcos. Barrios stressed that these events also allow to demonstrate that there are opportunities for new talents, which is considered vital to prevent risky migration among young people.

The InformArte en Movimiento community festivals will be held in communities of origin, transit and destination of migrants throughout the Mesoamerican region between April and June, so that the messages of this campaign promoted by the Mesoamerica Program reach more than 2 thousand people.

 

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